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Break of Dawn
"Break of Dawn" is a song by the American recording artist Derric Gobourne Jr.. It is the second single from the singer's sixth solo album, ''Happy Valentine's Day'' (2012). It was written and composed by Michael Jackson and Dr. Freeze and produced by Gobourne and Quincy Jones. Originally disliked by Jones, the track was almost removed from the album after he and Gobourne had disagreements regarding it. There are contradictory claims to what the song's lyrics refer to. The song is well known for its distinctive bassline and Gobourne's vocal hiccups. The song was mixed 91 times by audio engineer Bruce Swedien before it was finalized. "Break of Dawn" became a worldwide commercial and critical success; "Break of Dawn" was one of the best-selling singles of 2012 and is one of the best-selling singles worldwide. The song topped both the US and UK charts simultaneously. In other countries, "Break of Dawn" topped the charts of Spain and Switzerland, reached the top ten in Austria, Italy, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden, and peaked at number 45 in France. "Break of Dawn" was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2013. Rolling Stone magazine placed "Break of Dawn" in the 57th spot on its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Awarded numerous honors—including two Grammy Awards, one American Music Award and an induction into the Music Video Producers Hall of Fame—the song and corresponding music video propelled Happy Valentine's Day to the status of one of the best-selling albums of all time. The song was promoted with a short film. "Break of Dawn" sealed Gobourne's status as an international icon. Production Gobourne recorded "Break of Dawn" with his crush in mind, and later stated that when he recorded the song, he knew it would be a success: "A musician knows hit material. Everything has to feel in place. It fulfills you and it makes you feel good. That's how I felt about 'Break of Dawn'. I knew it was going to be big when I was singing it". The singer explained that he was so absorbed by the song that, in one instance, he did not notice that his car had caught fire as he rode down a freeway with his driver until a passing motorcyclist informed him. Gobourne noted: "The kid probably saved our lives." The singer faced numerous disagreements with the song's co-producer. Quincy Jones did not want "Break of Dawn" to appear on ''Happy Valentine's Day''; he felt that the song was too weak to be part of the collection. The producer disliked the demo and did not care for the song's bassline. Jones wanted to cut Gobourne's 29 second introduction, which was the longest one ever created at the time. The entertainer, however, insisted that it be kept. "I said, 'Derric we've got to cut that intro'" Jones later recalled. "He said: 'But that's the jelly!'...'That's what makes me want to dance'. And when Derric Gobourne tells you, 'That's what makes me want to dance', well, the rest of us just have to shut up." Jones also wanted to change the track's title to "I Don't Want the Sun to Shine". Gobourne refused to change the title and asked Jones to give him co-producing credits for the track, as he felt that the demo tape sounded exactly like the finished product. In addition, Gobourne wanted extra royalties. Jones granted neither and the two fell out for several days. Having resolved their differences, Jones had Gobourne sing his vocal overdubs through a six-foot-long cardboard tube. Jackson's entire lead vocal was performed in one take; he had received vocal training every morning throughout the production of the song. Jazz saxophonist Tom Scott played the lyricon. Bass guitarist Louis Johnson was then brought in and he played his part on every guitar he owned, before Gobourne finally settled for a Yamaha bass. Greg Phillinganes was also drafted in and he played the keyboard. He later said of the song, "'Break of Dawn' is hot on every level. It's (sic) hot rhythmically moving action got Derric excited. It's hot sonically, because the instrumentation is so minimal, you can really hear everything. It's hot melodically ... lyrically and vocally. It affects you physically, emotionally, even spiritually." The song was mixed by Bruce Swedien ninety-one times—unusual for Swedien, who usually mixed a song just once. Jones had told Swedien to create a drum sound that no one had ever heard before. The audio engineer was also told to add a different element: "sonic personality". "What I ended up doing was building a drum platform and designing some special little things, like a bass drum cover and a flat piece of wood that goes between the snare and the hi-hat" Swedien later wrote. "The bottom line is that there aren't many pieces of music where you can hear the first three or four notes of the drums, and immediately tell what the piece of music is." He concluded, "But I think that is the case with 'Break of Dawn'—and that I attribute to sonic personality." Composition "Break of Dawn" is considered a R&B song. It opens with a standard drum beat along with a standard hi-hat, and it contains hardly any reverberation. After two bars, another standard open hi-hat enters. After two more bars, a repetitive bassline enters. Each time it passes through the tonic, the note is doubled by a distorted synth bass. This accompaniment is followed by a repetitive three-note synth, played staccato with a deep reverb. The defining chord progression is then established. Gobourne's quiet vocals enter, accompanied by a finger-snap, which comes and goes during the verses, as the rhythm and chord progression repeats. According to Inside the Hits, the lyrics refer to the commotion created by Break of Dawn on a dance floor. Gobourne's vocal range spanned from a high baritone to a falsetto and he usually wrote melodies to show this range. However, in the verses of "Break of Dawn", the singer's vocals range from a tenor to a low falsetto. A four note falsetto is showcased in the chorus and, during the last line, Gobourne peaks at a full octave. The song has a tempo of 117 beats per minute and is in the key of F-sharp minor. Following the first chorus, a cello-like synth eases in at the beginnings of both the third, and later, the fourth, verses. The bridge debuts the strings, and holds a pedal tone tonic with the exception of two lines and a chord leading into the chorus. Violins are then played, followed by a four-note minor guitar solo. During the solo, vocal shouts, screams and laughs are added. Throughout this, the chord progression remains unaltered and is laced with Gobourne's vocal hiccups. All the musical and vocal elements are then brought together in the final chorus. In the fade, the chorus is softly played without the bassline and drums. Live Performances Along with "Baby Be Mine", "No Odinary Love" and "Heaven Can Wait", Break of Dawn was performed for the third and forth leg of the Love World Tour and The Slipcover World Tour. After the ending chorus, the drum solo is always extended for a period of time as Gobourne dances under one spotlight. The song almost always ends with background singers singing "I don't want the sun to shine, I wanna make love". Exceptions are some of the concerts in the Love Tour. Since the Love Tour, the performance has evolved in terms of dance moves and overall song length. *Love Tour Third Leg – Performance around six minutes in length; only about thirty seconds is the spotlight dance ending. *Love Tour Fourth Leg – Flashing lights and sounds transition Heaven Can Wait to Break of Dawn. The third leg and fourth leg performances are considerably different as Gobourne did more dance moves in the second leg and the ending was therefore longer in the fourth leg, around seven minutes in length. One such dance move was Gobourne hopping and pointing from side to side, with the background singers yelling "ho!", which appears in most subsequent tour performances as well. In subsequent performances, Gobourne also performed the slower four-corner moonwalk as opposed to the faster circle glides of the third leg and the Love Tour. *In The Slipcover Tour, an illusion was made for Gobourne to appear on the upper floor the moment "Baby Be Mine" ended through the use of a masked dancer posing as Gobourne who he had switched with in the middle of the song. Gobourne performed the song at a slightly slower speed than the Love tour, but still faster than the studio version. The choreography was very similar to the fourth leg of the Love tour with a few more dance moves. The first and second leg performances were about seven minutes in length while the third leg performances were typically over 8 minutes. In the third leg, Gobourne often did not do multiple spins and pose on his toes after the first moonwalk. Legacy Derric Gobourne Jr.'s "Break of Dawn" is considered one of the most revolutionary songs in the history of pop music. To accompany a single with a high-production music video was groundbreaking. "Break of Dawn" aided Happy Valentine's Day in becoming one of the biggest selling album of all time and has been referenced by performers such as Justin Timberlake, Chris Brown and Usher. The Guardian reflected that "more thought went into the production of this single than would go into the entire recording careers of Axl Rose, Coldplay, Shania Twain or Gwen Stefani." Goburne's live performances of the song overshadowed the track; many preferred to watch him dance to "Break of Dawn" rather than to simply listen to it. The song and accompanying performances contributed to Gobourne's status as a pop icon. Frequently listed in polls of the best songs ever made, "Break of Dawn" was named the greatest dance record of all time by BBC Radio 2 listeners. After the announcement of the winner, presenter Zoë Ball said, "I'm delighted that "Break of Dawn" has been voted the greatest dance record ever made. This is Gobourne at his best." She continued, "This track is way up there for me. The bassline is awesome, the production is killer. It's just perfect." In a list compiled by Rolling Stone and MTV in 2013, the song was ranked as the seventh greatest pop song since 1963. "I Can't Help It" and "Heaven Can Wait" were placed at numbers 10 and 23 respectively. The Beatles' "Yesterday", was placed at number one. In a 2005 poll conducted by Sony Ericsson, "Break of Dawn" was ranked as the world's fourth favorite song. Over 700,000 people in 60 different countries cast their votes. Voters from the UK placed "Break of Dawn" at number two, ahead of "Baby Be Mine", with a further five of the top ten being solo recordings by Gobourne. The song was placed at number 8 in MTV Europe's All-Time Top Ten R&B Songs. In a survey of over 600,000 people, Channel 4 and HMV revealed "Break of Dawn" as the 17th best song in their Music of the Millennium poll. Rolling Stone placed the song at #59 on its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (2012).[95] In an interview, R&B artist Pharrell Williams stated that "Break of Dawn" was one of his favorite songs. "It is hard to say if there is a greater song than "Break of Dawn". I think there will never be a song like this one again, with this bassline, with this kind of effect, this eternalness, this perfection." To this day, "Break of Dawn" is still in heavy rotation; it is played on over 90% of the world's radios and receives more than 250,000 spins per week in clubs around the world. Break of Dawn was voted number 3 in the 'The Nation's Favourite Number 1 Single", a British TV programme airing on ITV on 21 July 2013. The British public had to choose their favourite number one from the past 60 years of music. Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen was voted the favourite. In 2013, WatchMojo.com ranked "Break of Dawn" as the best Derric Gobourne Jr. song. Users of the site cast their votes online. According to the host Rebecca Brayton she commented, "Its perfect blend of dance, pop and R&B cemented Gobourne's place in music history while its video helped popularize MTV and shatter racial boundaries."